Attack on Abkhaz president aimed at 'destabilizing' region

Helicopters have been mobilized to search for assassins that attacked Abkhaz President Alexander Ankvab, Interfax reports.

The assailants are believed to have escaped to mountain areas.

Abkhaz police said that the attack happened at the Gudaut District at 8.25 am. A controlled landmine  blew up next to his escorting vehicle. Shots were made from a grenade launcher and a machine gun. ITAR-TASS said two bodyguards died in hospital.

It is the fifth assassination attempt against Alexander Ankvab, the former Prime Minister of Abkhazia. Two attempts were made in 2005, one in 2007. Ankvab’s jeep was shot from a grenade launcher at the Lykhny Village of the Gudaut District. Ankvab received a concussion and several projectile injuries. His house was shot from a grenade launcher in September 2010, Ankvab was injured.

Alexey Vlasov, Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that the assassination attempt was obviously aimed at destabilizing the situation in Abkhazia. Ankvab is putting efforts in preserving stability and expanding ties with other states. The president’s recent victory at the elections provoked the same plans to destabilize the region as in South Ossetia. Russia is a guarantor of sustainable development of the state and is concerned over the process, Vlasov says.